"Blu-Ray is Sony's Iraq"

[Ruined]

Some strong words by this tech writer. I think the terminology is a bit strong considering the actual lives lost in Iraq, but there are some interesting parallels. Check it out:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Z...eek-60557.html

[Derb]

HD DVD raped my little girl doggie style.

[PunkMunkey]

Interesting parallels or not, it's quite crass and tasteless to compare something as trivial as a format war to a real war where actual human lives are lost. Reading that really turned me off to any of the actual points he was trying to make in his article. His flippant comparison of this format war to an actual tragedy has flushed his credibility down the toilet in my eyes.

Bad form Rob Enderle.

[supercutz]

Considering which side of the war we all know you are on Ruined, this thread is nothing more than a lousy smear campaign and it's getting ridiculous.

[Daze]

As expected, HD DVD sold very well and continues to show very good numbers during the holiday buying season.

I read that HD-DVD got crushed over the last week including Black Friday.

28% to Blu-rays 72%

[MooglePorn]

Originally Posted by Derb

HD DVD raped my little girl doggie style.

HAHAHAHAHAHA... HA... ha... heh...

Anyway, what a flat-out stupid title.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Daze

I read that HD-DVD got crushed over the last week including Black Friday.

28% to Blu-rays 72%

Its worth doing some research into the numbers that you read instead of just taking them for face value

Of that 72%, the #2 highest "sold" title was the 11-month-old "Open Season" which was a freebie thrown in with the Playstation 3 for that week - it counted as a "sale" because it was given away with the PS3 by the retailer Best Buy, therefore they rank it as a sold title. Also, the other highest selling titles were Fox and Disney blockbusters which were exclusive to BD; therefore this is not a good benchmark of how well the format is doing vs HD DVD because it is comparing apples to oranges. If you look at actual titles that debuted on BOTH formats, such as Ocean's Thirteen, the numbers were much closer. Basically you had the new Die Hard going up against a $160 Star Trek TV boxset - of course Die Hard would sell better for that week.

[Daze]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Its worth doing some research into the numbers that you read instead of just taking them for face value

Of that 72%, the #2 highest "sold" title was the 11-month-old "Open Season" which was a freebie thrown in with the Playstation 3 for that week - it counted as a "sale" because it was given away with the PS3 by the retailer Best Buy, therefore they rank it as a sold title. Also, the other highest selling titles were Fox and Disney blockbusters which were exclusive to BD; therefore this is not a good benchmark of how well the format is doing vs HD DVD because it is comparing apples to oranges. If you look at actual titles that debuted on BOTH formats, such as Ocean's Thirteen, the numbers were much closer. Basically you had the new Die Hard going up against a $160 Star Trek TV boxset - of course Die Hard would sell better for that week.

Oh. I just saw the numbers on that engadgetHD site. How many weeks has HD-DVD been ahead? They only recently started posting them.

[PunkMunkey]

Originally Posted by Ruined

...Also, the other highest selling titles were Fox and Disney blockbusters which were exclusive to BD; therefore this is not a good benchmark of how well the format is doing vs HD DVD because it is comparing apples to oranges. If you look at actual titles that debuted on BOTH formats, such as Ocean's Thirteen, the numbers were much closer. Basically you had the new Die Hard going up against a $160 Star Trek TV boxset - of course Die Hard would sell better for that week.

WHAT!?!...I can almost understand why you'd say that comparing only non-format-exclusive tiles would be a better benchmark of sales numbers, but part of the sales discrepancies in whole format war is the exclusivity factor. To deny that would be short sighted. Sales are better for Blu-Ray due to exclusive titles. In the end, sales are sales are sales...the bottom line is units sold and so far Blu is moving more units. One might question their tactics with all the BOGO's and "freebies" (although HDDVD has also been pretty good about the freebies, especially at Wal-Mart) but they're accomplishing what they've set out to do which is to, at the very least, give the perception that they are indeed leading the format war in disc sales.

Originally Posted by Daze

Oh. I just saw the numbers on that engadgetHD site. How many weeks has HD-DVD been ahead?

And to answer this specific question, HDDVD has not outsold Blu-Ray all year (according to the Neilsen numbers).

[chlngr1970]

Units sold is great for marketing purposes, but doesn't mean squat for the bottom line if you have to give 40% of them away for free

j

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Units sold is great for marketing purposes, but doesn't mean squat for the bottom line if you have to give 40% of them away for free

j

Very much true. The only reason the BDA has been "ahead all year" is because they have strategically placed buy-one-get-one free sales (where even the free title counts as a "sale") and other software promotions on weeks when HD DVD would otherwise have been ahead in sales. In Q4 there have been more weeks where Sony has given away free movies with purchase of movies in store than weeks where movies were sold normally. Smoke and mirrors for sure, especially in the Q4 now that it is clear HD DVD has regained much of the ground it had lost earlier in the year as evidenced by much closer sales of multiplatform titles.

[jriseden]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Very much true. The only reason the BDA has been "ahead all year" is because they have strategically placed buy-one-get-one free sales (where even the free title counts as a "sale") and other software promotions on weeks when HD DVD would otherwise have been ahead in sales. In Q4 there have been more weeks where Sony has given away free movies with purchase of movies in store than weeks where movies were sold normally. Smoke and mirrors for sure, especially in the Q4 now that it is clear HD DVD has regained much of the ground it had lost earlier in the year as evidenced by much closer sales of multiplatform titles.

Don't you get tired of typing this every time someone mentions that blu-ray killed hd dvd in the weekly sales numbers?

[ganthc]

I think videoworx has stopped posting in this type of thread because he's tired of explaining how no discs are actually given away for free. But anyways, if you want to hold up Rob Enderle as a nonbiased writer, let me go ahead and start saying that the DigitalBits is the place to go for nonbiased news.

[Sehnzeleid]

Ehhhh...that guy's commentary is pretty stupid Ruined.

[PunkMunkey]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Units sold is great for marketing purposes, but doesn't mean squat for the bottom line if you have to give 40% of them away for free.

Originally Posted by Ruined

Very much true. The only reason the BDA has been "ahead all year" is because they have strategically placed buy-one-get-one free sales (where even the free title counts as a "sale") and other software promotions on weeks when HD DVD would otherwise have been ahead in sales. In Q4 there have been more weeks where Sony has given away free movies with purchase of movies in store than weeks where movies were sold normally. Smoke and mirrors for sure, especially in the Q4 now that it is clear HD DVD has regained much of the ground it had lost earlier in the year as evidenced by much closer sales of multiplatform titles.

Go back and actually read what I wrote and you may get the point that I was making:

Originally Posted by Me

(The BDA is)accomplishing what they've set out to do which is, at the very least, give the perception that they are indeed leading the format war in disc sales.

Whether or not you like their tactics, whether or not they're turning a huge profit the Neilsen numbers allow them to market themselves as the HDM sales leader. The average consumer doesn't give a damn about the BDA's bottom line...all they care about are less expensive movies. Similarly, the average consumer is more apt to choose an HDM format based on a percieved sales lead because "if it sells better then it's more popular, and if it's more popular then it's going to have more longevity."

The BDA is working marketing angles, certainly. no one can really deny that. But in a game of sales and perception, that's what you need to do in order to come out on top.

In the end, it's Toshiba's own fault that they fail to capture the sales lead from the BDA. Poor marketing can be blamed for their position in the HDM sales race...that and a dearth of truly must have, exclusive content.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Some strong words by this tech writer. I think the terminology is a bit strong considering the actual lives lost in Iraq, but there are some interesting parallels. Check it out:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Z...eek-60557.html

A much as I am not a BD or Sony fan, and I always enjoy Ruined's comments, I am now much less a fan of this writer for such a disgusting metaphor. The comparison seems only used to justify his political commentary about Iraq, and it is basically ignorant hindsight-laden parody. I am tired of hearing such comparisons ot Iraq and such-and-such business or corporate or financial matter by some smart-a** snot who thinks he's a political genius of some sort because he realized what everyone else had as well. It's not a subject for such disingenuous comparisons. Could you imagine somebody writing about a family conflict that involved some sort of quagmire of unforseen consequence and likening it to Iraq?

I also heard such comparisons about Vietnam and as a vet of that conflict, there's no comparison that's palatable when using a war as one of the subjects. I would not even compare any war with another war like many do, such as Iraq is Vietnam and so forth. I guarantee you they are not alike, especially to veterans of each.

So in order to make a stupid joke about Iraq, and lay down his political opines, this writer threw away his importance in this BD and HD debate, as I see it. I hope he somehow reads this.

[Mr. Furious]

First, I mentally dislike ANY writer that compares anything to Iraq other than... Iraq.

Secondly, if HD DVD doesn't get off their ass and start winning some of this shelf space back and numbers game, it'll be irrelevant if they're actually more or less popular (or more or less profitable). Consumers will decide that they are the loser on perception alone and go to BD (or no HDM at all). HD DVD hardware is the only thing right now in the price range of the average consumer. The software is priced too high though for average people to regularly buy. BD has the software in the right price, but the hardware is too expensive.

I think what we’re likely to see is a continued stalemate with both formats languishing. BD might eventually take the enthusiast market, while HD DVD mops up the “up-converting” market. IMHO, Toshiba has done what they needed to do to get hardware down in price. However, the software is going to be a bigger and bigger problem for them if they don’t start addressing it.